Crude prices were mixed in Asian trade Thursday, with investors fretting over the state of the US economy as lawmakers scrambled for a compromise to avert a devastating default, analysts said.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in September, fell 28 cents to $97.12 per barrel in the afternoon.

Brent North Sea crude for September delivery gained 39 cents to $117.82.

A drawn-out political impasse in the United States, as polarised politicians struggle to find a middle ground over a debt solution for the world’s largest oil consumer, was exacting its toll on traders.

“Prices remain largely range-bound as a result of the economic uncertainty, particularly with regard to the US budget impasse,” said Sanjeev Gupta, who heads the Asia-Pacific oil and gas practice at Ernst & Young.

Congress was due later Thursday to consider Republican Speaker John Boehner’s plan to raise Washington’s $14.3 trillion debt ceiling, although it looked doomed to fail due to a White House veto threat.

US lawmakers were privately hunting for a compromise to avert a debt default due to kick in on August 2.